Culture

As promised, there was another protest at Westlake Center last night opposing the grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer who shot and killed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. In efforts to not to replay Friday's mall swarms, the police came in larger numbers yesterday and managed to contain the crowd. But why has this group chosen the start of holiday shopping season as the moment to protest Brown's death--what does consumerism have to do with race?

Must See Aham Oluo's New Show at On the Boards (12/4 to 12/7, times vary) Musician/composer/comedian/writer Aham Oluo's show Now I'm Fine combines monologues with original jazz compositions performed by a live orchestra and chronicles a specific six-month period in 2006 during which he went through a host of health and emotional issues.

A bipartisan legislature in Olympia couldn't get background checks passed, but bipartisan agreement among the people finally did.
Washington's successful gun control ballot measure (I-594), which requires background checks on all gun sales, was enthusiastically supported by liberals, but it passed last November with strong support from some traditional Republican voting areas.

Local actors Jessica Skerritt and Dane Stokinger don’t have to stretch too far for their roles this holiday season. The married couple plays a married couple (Ralphie’s mother and father) in the musical A Christmas Story (11/25–12/30; times and prices vary. The 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave.; 206.625.1900; 5thavenue.org). And it’s not the first time the duo has used their natural chemistry to their advantage.

For those of you who didn't get all the shopping out of your system on Black Friday, today is Cyber Monday. And there are steals and deals to be had. But before your bank account dwindles even further, let's read up on what's going on around the city:

Must CheerThe Seahawks Take on The 49ersThursday (11/27) The Seahawks play sworn enemies the San Francisco 49ers for the first time since beating them out for last year's Super Bowl slot. San Francisco may have a fancy new stadium, but we must'nt let them forget: we have those shiny rings.

“There’s sometimes a misconception that this is an uplifting show,” Ahamefule “Aham” Oluo says. A smile curls at the edges of his deadpan voice, but it comes from a place of sincerity, not scorn. His tall frame folded into a café chair at a coffee shop in his neighborhood, Columbia City, he is discussing his new show, Now I’m Fine. It’s a sort of jazz performance memoir, a dark and funny pop opera that shrinks and swells from intimate portrait to sweeping emotion. “I would say it’s neutral,” Oluo continues.

Work has finally begun on the stalled Fifth + Columbia tower. The building will soar to 44 stories--one of the tallest in Seattle--and will house a four-star luxury hotel on the third through the 15th floors. The rest will be office space. Look for Fifth + Columbia to open sometime in 2016.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a joyous occasion wherein relatives young and old gather 'round for an epic feast, convivial conversation, sports (if you're into that), parades with accident-prone balloons, and general family togetherness. Some of the time, however, it's a completely dysfunctional event from which you'd like to escape.
(Lest my family read this and assume I'm referring to them: I'm not. I swear. Really.)

This article originally appeared on Avvo.
Last month, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, passed a law restricting how and where people may feed the homeless. A week after it passed, the law was put into use when two pastors and a senior citizen were arrested for feeding the homeless on a beach.
Helping the homeless just got harder

Nordstrom has announced some big changes with its semi-annual sales: The luxury department store is abandoning those four semi-annual sales and instead plans to hold six clearance sales each year. According to The Puget Sound Business Journal, "the six clearance sales will be storewide, rather than broken up by specific department, as the half-yearly sales were. The big July Anniversary Sale will remain unchanged."